Children who are always sleeping: the story of Samir and the syndrome of resignation
The Child Jesus psychotherapist tells her path. Similar symptoms also in children infected with covid.
They call it the resignation syndrome, a pathology that affects the little ones among 6 e i 15 years that fall into apathy and hibernation. They sleep, they always sleep. So children of migrants, the war has upset their lives and with open eyes they can no longer stand. This is also what it also happened to Samir, 6 years, Syrian fleeing the bombs, adopted in Rome. Here the Child Jesus was treated by doctor Maria Pontillo, developmental psychotherapist, who told the story of his journey to Repubblica:
“Once in Rome he began to develop post trauma symptoms, sleeping up to 12 hours a day, refusing any contact with the outside world. It was the school that activated the service and made it arrive Samir to the Child Jesus. When we first saw it, we worried and subjected him to many clinical tests that excluded organic pathologies. There were no health problems that justified the sleep that lasted day and night. Samir's brain worked regularly "
Samir had not overcome the fear. He relived the escapes with his parents, the fear of losing them. He continued to feel in danger even far from those bombs. And he slept, victim of the syndrome of resignation:
“Children and young people affected – dai 6 to the 18 years – they become more and more isolated. The symptoms are different. The little ones shut themselves up in silence and no longer eat, they progressively move away from biological needs. They reject sports and school. They suffer from crises of anxiety and fear. In the older ones, social isolation is even more evident. They can be associated with problems of aggression "
Symptoms similar to Samir's have also been found in non-migrant children:
“We also noticed similar symptoms in children who have experienced abuse or violence. But now children from Covid who seem to suffer from disorders similar to the resignation syndrome also arrive in our clinics, like peers of migrant families ".
